OMAO — Kekai Chock drove a busload of kupuna from the Kauai Adult Day Health Center in Lihue to the Hale Kupuna Heritage Home in Omao Thursday. “This is what makes Kauai so special,” said Kekai Chock, a Kauai Bus
OMAO — Kekai Chock drove a busload of kupuna from the Kauai Adult Day Health Center in Lihue to the Hale Kupuna Heritage Home in Omao Thursday.
“This is what makes Kauai so special,” said Kekai Chock, a Kauai Bus driver Thursday at the Hale Kupuna Third annual Bon Dance for its residents and guests. “We take care of our people, especially the seniors.”
Pacita McDermott of Hale Kupuna said the majority of its 83 residents are Japanese, and the bon dance started because she couldn’t get them to the community events.
“I felt really bad when they would ask me if we could take them to the bon dance,” McDermott said. “But as more and more of the residents age, it became impossible to take them. We said, ‘Why not make the bon dance, here.’”
McDermott said in addition to the Hale Kupuna population and their families, she invited the Kauai Adult Day Health Center clients from Lihue and the general public.
Hale Kupuna is not alone in hosting the bon dance, an event which started at Buddhist temples when the first Japanese were brought to Hawaii to serve as laborers on the plantations.
Over the years, communities embraced the event with camaraderie, food offerings, and dance.
The Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital, the first long-term care facility to start its own bon dance, will host its bon celebration on Aug. 9 in the Kapaa hospital’s courtyard, which was designed around the bon dance.
The Joyful Noise taiko ensemble under the direction of Aki Conquest will get the celebration going from 6 p.m., and the public is invited to share the festivities with the hospital’s residents and their families.
“We still take our residents to the bon dances in the Kapaa area,” said Josie Pablo, the Mahelona Hospital recreation director. “But a lot of the residents are physically not able to attend the community events, so we host our own bon dance with a lot of help from community volunteers so the residents can enjoy something they’ve always celebrated.”
Brycen Hiraoka of the Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea said the KVMH Auxiliary will host its bon dance on Aug. 16 starting at 5 p.m. in the hospital’s front lawn.
Parking is available at the neighboring Waimea Canyon Middle School and the public is invited to indulge in the food booth, which includes chicken hekka plate, chili, andagi, flying saucers and saimin.
Hiraoka said the KVMH Auxiliary is also hosting a country store and game booths for everyone.
Jimmy Okada of the Waimea Senior Centers said this year, for the first time, the Kauai Veterans Council will also host a bon dance at the Kauai Veterans Center on Kapule Highway in Lihue.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
